Students will get laptops with plan

Every student in grades one through eight in the Birmingham city school system will receive a laptop computer under a tentative agreement Mayor-elect Larry Langford has reached with a foundation that provides computers in developing countries, an adviser to Langford said Monday.

"Over 15,000 children will be receiving their own personal laptops," said John Katopodis, a longtime Langford friend who is negotiating with the One Laptop Per Child foundation on Langford's behalf.

"We feel that technology, and the ability to use technology effectively, is an important learning tool," Katopodis said. "We believe providing these children with the tools to catch up will give them a head start in life because technology is such an integral part of learning."

Katopodis said some details remain to be worked out. A spokeswoman for the Boston-based foundation said talks are being held this week about implementing the program.

Under the tentative agreement, the city would buy the laptops at a discount through the foundation and provide them to the city schools. They would not be the students' personal property.

The machine, called the XO laptop, is virtually indestructible, waterproof, and has its own Wi-Fi system, Katopodis said.

He said the laptops would cost about $3 million - about $200 each.

Langford, whose inauguration is today, said the money will come from private sector donations as well as the city budget.

"I have to get the City Council on the same page," he said. "We all have to go in and just say what we're going to do. There will be tough decisions."

Nicholas Negroponte, the founding director of the MIT Media Laboratory, set up and heads the nonprofit foundation. He developed the laptops specifically for use abroad in Third World countries to try to bring the users up to speed with technology, Katopodis said.

Not a done deal:

"Mayor Langford was able to persuade MIT to make an exception and do this program," he said.

Jackie Lustig, spokeswoman for One Laptop Per Child, said Langford's office has requested help in implementing the program for elementary schools during the 2008-2009 school year.

"OLPC has agreed to consider his request and to that effect will be holding talks this week about how such program may be implemented," Lustig said in a statement.

City Council President Carole Smitherman said she has had some discussions with Langford about the laptops, but she needs more details.

"If our children have access to computers and it costs about $200 per computer, that's a minimal amount to bring children and their parents that technology," Smitherman said. "I have to see where that fits with the totality of items that the mayor wants the council to sign off on."

Smitherman said the council has supported education enrichment programs and funding for the Board of Education. Providing laptops would be a great investment, she said.

Langford said the laptop program is one of several initiatives designed to "bring the magic back" to Birmingham.

"If it means paving streets, let's pave the streets," he said. "If it means upgrading parks, let's upgrade parks. If it means a domed stadium, let's build a domed stadium. If it means scholarships for our kids - we've got to put the magic back in the Magic City."

This is not the first time Langford and Katopodis have teamed up to provide a computer program for children.

Langford, Katopodis and HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy in 2000 formed Computer Help for Kids, a nonprofit organization, to refurbish donated computers and give them to needy children.

The Internal Revenue Service has subpoenaed Jefferson County and the city of Fairfield for checks written to the group.

Langford has said he has done nothing wrong, and called the investigation politically motivated. News staff writer Joseph D. Bryant contributed to this report. bwright@bhamnews.com